When you file your 2008 income tax return, take credit for all the income tax and excess social security or railroad retirement tax withheld from your salary, wages, pensions, etc. Also take credit for the estimated tax you paid for 2008. These credits are subtracted from your tax. Because these credits are refundable, you should file a return and claim these credits, even if you do not owe tax.

If the total of your withholding and your estimated tax payments for any payment period is less than the amount you needed to pay by the due date for that period, you may be charged a penalty, even if the total of these credits is more than your tax for the year.

If you had income tax withheld during 2008, you generally should be sent a statement by February 2, 2009, showing your income and the tax withheld. Depending on the source of your income, you will receive:

Your employer is required to provide or send Form W-2 to you no later than February 2, 2009. You should receive a separate Form W-2 from each employer you worked for.

If you stopped working before the end of 2008, your employer could have given you your Form W-2 at any time after you stopped working. However, your employer must provide or send it to you by February 2, 2009.

If you ask for the form, your employer must send it to you within 30 days after receiving your written request or within 30 days after your final wage payment, whichever is later.

If Form W-2 is mailed, you should allow adequate time to receive it before contacting your employer. If you still do not get the form by February 17, the IRS can help you by requesting the form from your employer. The phone number for the IRS is listed in chapter 5. You will be asked for the following information.

Your employer's name, address, city, and state, including zip code.

Your name, address, city and state, including zip code, and social security number.

An estimate of the wages you earned, the federal income tax withheld, and the period you worked for that employer. The estimate should be based on year-to-date information from your final pay stub or leave-and-earnings statement, if possible.

Form W-2 shows your total pay and other compensation and the income tax, social security tax, and Medicare tax that was withheld during the year. Include the federal income tax withheld (as shown on Form W-2) on:

Line 62, if you file Form 1040;

Line 38, if you file Form 1040A; or

Line 7, if you file Form 1040EZ.

In addition, Form W-2 is used to report any taxable sick pay you received and any income tax withheld from your sick pay.

If you had gambling winnings in 2008, the payer may have withheld income tax. If tax was withheld, the payer will give you a Form W-2G showing the amount you won and the amount of tax withheld.

Report the amounts you won on line 21 of Form 1040. Take credit for the tax withheld on line 62 of Form 1040. If you had gambling winnings, you must use Form 1040; you cannot use Form 1040A or Form 1040EZ.

Gambling losses can be deducted on Schedule A (Form 1040) as a miscellaneous itemized deduction on line 28. However, you cannot deduct more than the gambling winnings you report on Form 1040, line 21.

File Form W-2G with your income tax return only if it shows any federal income tax withheld from your winnings.

Most forms in the 1099 series are not filed with your return. In general, these forms should be furnished to you by February 2, 2009. Unless instructed to file any of these forms with your return, keep them for your records.

Attach Form 1099-R to your return if federal income tax withholding is shown in box 4. Include the amount withheld in the total on line 62 of Form 1040, or on line 38 of Form 1040A. You cannot use Form 1040EZ if you received payments reported on Form 1099-R.

If you were subject to backup withholding on income you received during 2008, include the amount withheld, as shown in box 4 of your Form 1099, in the total on line 62 of Form 1040, line 38 of Form 1040A, or line 7 of Form 1040EZ.

If you receive a form with incorrect information, you should ask the payer for a corrected form. Call the telephone number or write to the address given for the payer on the form. The corrected Form W-2G or Form 1099 you receive will have an "X" in the "CORRECTED" box at the top of the form. A special form, Form W-2c, Corrected Wage and Tax Statement, is used to correct a Form W-2.

If you file your return and you later receive a form for income that you did not include on your return, you should report the income and take credit for any income tax withheld by filing Form 1040X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return.

If you are married but file a separate return, you can take credit only for the tax withheld from your own income. Do not include any amount withheld from your spouse's income. However, different rules may apply if you live in a community property state.

Generally, if you live in a community property state and file a separate return, you and your spouse each must report half of all community income in addition to your own separate income. If you are required to report half of all community income, you are entitled to take credit for half of all taxes withheld on the community income. If you were divorced during the year, each of you generally must report half the community income and can take credit for half the withholding on that community income for the period before the divorce.

For more information on these rules, and some exceptions, see Publication 555, Community Property.

If you file your tax return on the basis of a fiscal year (a 12-month period ending on the last day of any month except December), you must follow special rules, described below, to determine your credit for federal income tax withholding.

You can claim credit on your tax return only for the tax withheld during the calendar year ending within your fiscal year. You cannot claim credit for any of the tax withheld during the calendar year beginning in your fiscal year. You will be able to claim credit for that withholding on your return for your next fiscal year.

The Form W-2 or 1099-R you receive for the calendar year that ends during your fiscal year will show the tax withheld and the income you received during that calendar year.

Although you take credit for all the withheld tax shown on the form, report only the part of the income shown on the form that you received during your fiscal year. Add to that the income you received during the rest of your fiscal year.

Miles Hanson files his return for a fiscal year ending June 30, 2008. In January 2008, he received a Form W-2 that showed that his wages for 2007 were $31,200 and that his income tax withheld was $3,432. His records show that he had received $15,000 of the wages by June 30, 2007, and $16,200 from July 1 through December 31, 2007. See Table 3-1 below.

On his return for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, Miles will report the $16,200 he was paid in July through December of 2007, plus the $18,125 he was paid during the rest of the fiscal year, January 1, 2008, to June 30, 2008. However, he takes credit for all $3,432 that was withheld during 2007.

On his return for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007, he reported the $15,000 he was paid in January through June 2007, but took no credit for the tax withheld during that time. On his return for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009, he can take credit for any tax withheld during 2008 but not for any tax withheld during 2009.

1 Miles' tax return for FY ending 6/30/2007 also included his wages for 7/1–12/31/2006 and the withholding shown on his 2006 Form W-2.2 Calendar year (January 1 – December 31).3 Withholding shown on 2008 Form W-2 ($4,368) will be included in Miles' tax return for FY ending 6/30/2009, the fiscal year in which calendar year 2008 ends.4 Wages for 7/1–12/31/2008 ($19,575) will be included in Miles' tax return for FY ending 6/30/2009, the fiscal year in which the wages were received.

Emily Smith's records show that she received income in November 2008 and February 2009 from which there was backup withholding ($100 and $50, respectively). Emily takes credit for the entire $150 of backup withholding on her tax return for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2009.